Every year since 2000, color authority Pantone has named a Color of the Year.

This is much more than “pick a color.” The winning hue spends 12 months in the spotlight as a key influencer in fashion, art and design. The Color of the Year is seen everywhere from interiors to branding; from beauty products to packaging.

Enter marsala – aka Pantone 18-1438 TCX – the wine-inspired 2015 Pantone Color of the Year.

“A naturally robust and earthy wine red, Marsala enriches our minds, bodies and souls,” Pantone says.

Marsala fever has already begun spreading in the fashion world (Of course it probably doesn’t hurt that the color is named after wine). Magazines and news sources offer their top marsala picks, while bloggers chime in with their thoughts on the color choice. USA Today offers a budget-friendly list for the marsala-happy fashionista, while Allure offers a few beauty product selections. Philly.com offers five marsala makeup products.

A Styleite writer questions the whole hoopla, and Glamour negates that skepticism in a great interview with the Pantone Color Institute’s executive director. Meanwhile, PSFK details the creation of the marsala campaign and the color's impact in retail.

“It's nice, but it surprises me," color consultant Jean Molesworth Kee, owner of the Painted Room in Alexandria, Virginia tells the Daily Herald. "We have been veering from red or burgundy wall color now for years. This has a dusky, earthy quality."

The Color of the Year’s connection to the world around us is kind of a “chicken or the egg” thing; much of the selection process is driven by emerging trends, and then the chosen color becomes the official trend.

Anyway, cheers to marsala. What do you think of it?